Recent years have seen a rapid development of brighter, more efficient electric light-emitting components. Devices like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) promise longer useful lives, greater reliability, better miniaturization, and greater energy efficiency than older electroluminescent technologies such as incandescent light bulbs. The greater energy efficiency means that for every lumen of light, the new electric light-emitting components waste less energy in the form of heat. Nonetheless, electric light-emitting components still generally produce some waste heat. Furthermore, many necessary elements in circuits that deliver electricity to electric light-emitting components inevitably generate waste heat as well. Waste heat can have a deleterious effect on the performance of electric light-emitting components. Long-term operation at higher temperatures decreases the useful lifespan of many electric light-emitting components, requiring more frequent replacements and decreasing their reliability. Moreover, some devices, such as LEDs, become less energy efficient as they heat up. This causes the devices either to dim, or to draw more current to produce the same output in lumens; moreover, if the devices draw more current to match their previous luminous output, they will necessarily produce greater quantities of waste heat, as will other elements in the circuit driving the light-emitting components. This results in further wear on the light-emitting components and circuit elements, and in a corresponding decrease in efficiency. The effects of waste heat can thus have a cascading effect, greatly increasing energy and replacement costs attendant to illumination.
Therefore, there remains a need for light-emitting devices that effectively dissipate heat from electric light-emitting components and associated circuitry.